Prompts and Circumstances
by saiyuri-dahlia
Summary: My entries for the Volink Week over on Tumblr a while back. I decided to post them elsewhere for other Volink fans that don't have a Tumblr and also because I wanted to collect them together all in one place. Only the Day Three entry is NSFW. Title is a pun on the classical piece, "Pomp and Circumstance" because the only thing I love more than classical music are puns. Cue groans.
1. Chapter 1

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

-o-

Day One: Rage

-o-

Volga knew rage. By any account, enemy or allied, he was rage. It didn't matter which form he took—when he roared, the insects scattered on both sides of the battlefield. Even at rest, he looked angry, having a natural scowl, but the dragon knight was not in a constant state of all-scorching wrath as the rest of Her Majesty's forces seemed to believe. Admittedly, a great deal of things could spark his anger and the fire of his emotions could make his inner flame burn no brighter than a candle or blaze and burst like a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.

He was not without control of his fire, however. It was just that most of the time, and for most of his life, he hadn't gave a damn to swallow his cinders. Nothing had brought him reason to bite his dragon tongue. If something angered him, he set fire to it. It was hardly an insult to him to say that Volga was powered by rage.

So when he saw a worked up Link shoot up from his seat in a quiet rage, Volga bit his dragon tongue, stayed in the booth at the back of the bar, and watched the curious scene unfold as Link stood between him and the crossbow and pitchfork-wielding local militia.

It mattered not to the villagers that Volga had fought and slayed Argorok himself and assured their victory against Cia's forces. Were it not for the dragon knight, the dark dragon's fireball would have incinerated the village and none of the villagers would have made it out alive had Volga not held the giant boulder in place and diverted the lava flow. Far as the villagers were concerned, Volga was a dragon and dragons were only either evil or dead and Volga was not dead. The fact that he was among them celebrating the Hyrulean forces' great victory and was not a head mounted on a plaque on their wall was a grave insult that needed to be changed.

Not even by his goddesses' decree was Link going to allow harm be brought to Volga.

Link stood with his ridged arms slightly out from his sides in a fight-ready stance. Even without his weapons, the boy was ready to take on and take down the entire mob surrounding and cornering them in the back of the bar. Volga saw the sharp, stiff angle of his shoulders and could picture without ever seeing the unrelenting, icy glower pinning the pissing mob in place.

"He's a dragon, Hero, not a man. This bastard has killed your brothers and charred the castle keep. If you won't slay him—" the leader of the mob, presumed to be in charge only because he was the only one stupid-brave enough to say anything to Link, suddenly shut up. The fool's eyes grew wide and large and very fearful in the wake of the strong possibility of the enraged boy grabbing his throat and not letting go. Volga saw from the side Link's jaw muscle clench as he bared his teeth in warning.

Not that it would be a great feat for the boy to do so against these farmers and second-cut soldiers or that Volga had ever needed such shielding but Link was ready to fight for him. It did not merely annoy or anger him but thoroughly enraged Link to hear them insult and threaten the dragon knight in front of him. Volga could not recall a time a human had ever stood beside and stood up for him.

Sliding out from the booth, Volga stood and groaned deep in his throat in annoyance. "You tried, boy, but neither I nor they wish for me to be here." He made his way past a blinking Link and around the petrified mob and left the silent, gawking bar of soldiers to resume their revelry without him.

Volga had barely made it a stone's throw away from the bar when Link barreled through the saloon doors and came running and shouting after him. Grumbling once more in his throat, the dragon knight frowned as the swift-footed boy grabbed him by the arm and jerked him to a stop.

"Do you think it matters to me whether or not I possess their regard?" Volga said, peering down at Link as he pled with him to come back. "And what joy is there for me to watch your men drink and sing of victory to a battle they played no part in seizing?" He roughly freed his arm from Link's grip. "Remember, boy. I am not a man. I am a dragon."

Briefly, Link canted his eyes and frowned harshly. He then smacked his left fist against the dragon knight's breastplate on his heart and then laid his fist on his own.

Volga looked away, closed his eyes just for a moment, and smirked in mild amusement. "We are warriors but that is no battlefield you wish me to enter. I exiled myself from the world of men for a reason. I have no place among Hylians."

Link barked sharply in disagreement. After tracing a circle on his chest with his index finger, he touched his mouth and laid his hand in his other, palm facing up.

"Don't be naïve, boy. I am not good. My interests merely coincide and serve with yours and your allies," he said. "I spared this village from the lava flow because the two of us could not have escaped alone. You would have obstinately insisted for me to rescue the others… I can carry a great weight but I am no one's pack mule."

The boy stared back at him in flat disbelief. He believed that Volga was a good person. Volga was a terrible person. He was, in more than one sense of the word, a monster. The crimes he had committed while under the witch's spell did not outrage him in the least, and while he had never showed remorse for his actions, Link knew firsthand the devastation he had inflicted and yet the boy was quick to rage at anyone who meant the dragon knight harm. He seemed to foolishly believe that there was something good about Volga, or in the least that he was better than he realized.

He wasn't really any better than the boy imagined. He wasn't kind or self-sacrificing. He was selfish and the only difference now than before the witch dragged him into this war was that now he saw his world contained two people of great worth—himself and Link. He was absolutely willing to do come what may to keep the boy safe—if it meant incinerating the land and all that called it home to protect him so be it. Volga wasn't good. Good people were not ready to kill the Queen of Hyrule and battle their gods in the Hero's name.

Gesturing and nodding toward the bar, Link said that he had just wanted everybody to celebrate their victory, for Volga to receive the admiration he deserved for doing a great deed. The dragon knight did not need to stand away from the troops if he wished not to. He was just as much an ally as the others and it was time that the soldiers and townsfolk saw that he was.

Volga looked away and breathed a bullish snort in derision, not before noting the sharpness and flurry of his signs as Link explained how he _hated_ seeing people treat him as if he was still the general of Cia's army come to slaughter and burn the land beyond ruin.

"The people you fight for are very ignorant, boy. You can't make them believe what you say, even if you are the Hero," Volga said as he turned around and faced away from Link. "Not many would speak and fight for a dragon. I can think of none that have and think it foolish of you that you would. …As pointless as your efforts may be, I suppose thanks are in order."

Volga clomped down the cobblestone street as he made his way toward the surrounding woods. Before Link followed and caught up with him, Volga smiled softly to himself before squashing his stirred sentiment down and putting on his natural scowl. Volga knew rage but no human but the boy had ever been enraged on his behalf. The idea was so ridiculous to him that he wanted to scoff aloud. Only because he had seen Link's rage firsthand did he stop himself from sneering.

He told Link to go back to the bar but the boy shook his head in clear indication that it wouldn't be much fun. The dragon knight breathed a loud, blustery sigh as he pretended that Link with both his arms hooked around one of Volga's, his head leaning on Volga's upper arm, and his quite content, cute smile were all great bothers and not tiny joys in the least.


	2. Chapter 2

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

-o-

Day Two: Calm

-o-

Lake Hylia glittered with white sparkles as gentle sunlight and blue sky reflected off its clear water. Tiny birds flitted and sang from tree to tree as white and yellow butterflies tussled and fluttered above the same fragrant wildflowers, despite the many other, many colored flowers widely blanketing the meadow. It was, as the boy would put it, one of those picturesque scenes. The day was perfectly calm and beautiful.

Volga was bored as hell.

In his dragon form, he laid on his stomach with his wings folded back and his eyes half-closed as he basked in the warm daylight and was lulled nearly to sleep by the heat and boredom. Link sat cross-legged at the end of the short pier watching his fishing bobber lightly sway back and forth in the almost still water and waited for a fish, a boot, something to latch on.

Volga rumbled low in his throat. When the boy had said they were going to go fishing as part of their relaxing holiday leave, Volga had assumed there would be more stalking and hunting of fish involved or in the very least that he was going to get to jab his spear at something. As soon as Link had handed him a fishing rod and saw him cast the bobber into the lake, the dragon knight had dropped the rod and went for a long flight. He wasn't sure if he was more disappointed at learning what kind of fishing the boy had in mind or that after four hours he had returned to find the boy had caught nothing in his absence. Why the boy had thought this would be fun and relaxing Volga couldn't explain…

Shifting back into his human form, Volga walked barefoot and armor-less out onto the pier. He was going to crouch down and tell Link to give fishing a rest and go hunting with him—it was still mid-afternoon but, at the rate the boy was not catching fish, they weren't going to have a dinner tonight if they didn't head out—when he noticed something about the boy that outright ticked him off.

Link had fallen asleep.

Presumably, from the time the dragon knight had taken flight all the way until now, the boy had been sleeping. There was no way of knowing how many times he had hooked a fish only for it to escape due to his lack of wakefulness. Even now, the bobber was dipping down with signs of a strong bite and the boy was faintly snoozing away. It was miraculous that he was even holding the rod in place. Volga thought about shoving him into the lake but then had an even better idea.

Becoming a dragon once more, Volga wrapped his tail around Link's waist and lashed him through the water. Quite soaked and awake, Link shouted and rapidly shot curt hand signs back at Volga. Unbothered by his cursing, Volga smirked and chuckled deeply in his long throat as he dangled and whipped around a dripping Link over the water. What a shame it was that the wet boy was going to have to trek back to their camp and change into dry clothes… He was already more than a little annoyed, a little tense. Volga could fix that.

As he was not particularly listening to Link's insistence that he put him down on the lake banks, neither Volga nor the boy saw the shadow until it was impossibly large and the great beast—an impossibly-monstrous bass—leapt out of the water at Link, screaming in terror as he stared down the fish's gaping mouth. Volga yanked Link out of the way, turned around, and sprang at the giant bass. He ripped his claws through its gills and sank his hot fangs into its jaw.

Its size and weight pushed Volga into the lake, the two crashing and rippling choppy waves throughout the lake. The bass locked in his jaws floundered for a bit, smacking scales against scales and sending frothy water splashing over him, but Volga held on until the bass died and then dragged it out onto the lake banks.

Sitting up after having been tossed and rolled across the ground, a damp Link sat and stared in dumbfounded disbelief at the dragon knight's massive kill as Volga shifted back into his human form. Rising from his crouched stance, he smiled in absolute pride and victory as he stood tall and superior to all other beasts.

"You were right, boy," Volga said, wiping a bead of water running down his forehead, as he looked back at the giant bass, as long as him in his dragon form. "Fishing is relaxing."


	3. Chapter 3

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

Warning: NSFW

-o-

Day Three: Cold Feet

-o-

"You are not having the cold feet now, are you?" Volga asked with an irritatingly smug smirk stretched across his face. On anyone else, that kind of arrogant bastard's smile would have earned a punch in the face straight out but Volga's smiles were few and far between and nearly always full of himself. Still, Link shot him a glare to shut him up, not that it would do anything to silence him.

Standing on the very top of the tallest mountain, Link gazed out over the mountain peaks and down into the valley below and wondered how Volga had convinced him to do this. Well, he was pinning too much of the blame on him. It wasn't exactly all the dragon knight's fault that they were up here and Volga hadn't pushed or prodded him into agreeing. Pretty much as soon as Volga said 'in the sky', Link had said yes and practically shook with excitement throughout the rest of his explanation. It wasn't until now that he actually thought about what he would have to do.

It was just that the more he thought about it, the more crazy-stupid the idea sounded. It was an old mate-binding ritual among dragons, something akin to marriage but less legally binding and more spiritually unifying. The custom called for two dragons to take flight and, being not a dragon, Link didn't know how and was going to have a hard time performing the greater part of the ritual. But Volga had assured him that getting him into the sky would be no problem and that he would catch him before he hit the valley below. Link wasn't afraid to do the ritual but he couldn't help but have a small nagging worry about Volga losing his grip at the worst time.

Link shook his head no as Volga, standing behind him, tilted his head up and to the side and swept his slightly open mouth up along his neck and jaw. Volga's lips hovered above his until Link heel-kicked his shin. With a sole, short grunt of pain, the dragon knight grimaced, giving Link the half-second he needed to half-turn and ram his shoulder into his chest to push him away. Facing him completely, Link smirked back and held his arms slightly out from his sides. With a small wave of his fingers, he practically told the dragon knight to come at him.

Quickly balancing himself, Volga grinned. He chuckled deeply in his throat. "You're not sparring hard enough. Are you sure you are not having doubts?"

Link stripped off and tossed aside his tunic and boots. Sure, he had knocked the dragon knight off guard and could have gotten in another strike or two before he recovered but that wasn't fair or the point—Volga knew now that he was ready to fight, ready to begin. By no means did he not know what Link was doing. All their friendly bouts started like this, sparked by one hitting or shoving the other or Volga yelling at him or Link lobbing something small off Volga's head. Many a time they had terrified their fellow soldiers as they circled and challenged one another, working themselves into fighting mood before one finally gave the first punch.

Punch after kick after toss, scuffled and scraped bodies gripped, held, and squeezed, Link and Volga at long last stood squarely in front of one another and traded furious punch after punch. They weren't necessarily concerned with blocking every hit, choosing instead to prove their strength and will by taking each blow without falter. If Volga was not a dragon and if Link was not the Hero, each of their punches would have cocked a normal man out cold, not that a normal man would've seen any of their punches coming.

With a second hard right to his battered cheek, Link's back leg bent, causing him to wobble in his stance just for a moment, giving Volga the sign he wanted. Grabbing Link by the throat, he hoisted him off the ground and tossed him into the sky as hard as he could. Link screamed in shock and panic as he rocketed higher and higher. As he started to fall, he saw the burst of Volga's fire below as little more than a bright spark as he summoned his dragon wings and leapt after him.

As he tumbled through the air, wind blustering in his ears, Link simultaneously cursed at the stupidity of this plan and prayed for the dragon knight to reach him soon. Never was he more happy to be engulfed by the smell of volcanic char as Volga grabbed him, his tough nails digging into and scratching his underarms and shoulder blades.

Instinctively, as the only solid anything in the sky, Link wrapped his legs around his waist and clung to him. Though he could not hear his laughter for the wind in his ears, he felt his amused rumble in Volga's chest and neck and the stretch of his smile not a second before Volga roughly kissed him. Skin to skin, Link realized that he had burned away his training clothes upon summoning his wings.

Feeling himself slip ever so slightly but ever so down and farther away from him, he grappled Volga's body. Already incited by the heat and fury of their sparring, Link's stiff nipples grinded against the dragon knight's chest as he secured his grip on his mid-back muscles. At the same time, Volga supported and pushed up his buttocks with one hand, his other on Link's armpit to steady him.

Possessing neither the time nor patience for much foreplay, Volga pushed himself inside Link. He grimaced and grunted at the dry but not unfamiliar slide into his unprepared body. His curt groans afterwards were not entirely out of pain, however, as his hardened cock rubbed roughly against Volga's groin and lower abs with each and every frequent shift of his body.

As the weight of gravity tipped him forward, the dragon knight folded his wings and the coupled pair began to fall toward the ground far below them. Forced by the wind lashing his hair into his eyes, Link closed his eyes and focused himself entirely on the feel of Volga encompassing him. With nothing else but the dragon knight to clasp onto, it was easy to plunge himself into his enveloping heat and strength as Volga gripped him by the ass cheek and pulled him into his pike.

Tumbling through the sky, Link found himself for a moment sitting on top of Volga and the dragon knight quickly readjusted his hold, grabbing Link by the hips as he sat up and arched his back and rolled his hips over him. Never were their hands, particularly Volga's, ever in one spot for very long, however, as gravity turned them yet again. His open mouth pressed so close to Volga's chest his teeth scraped his skin, he moaned and raked his twitching, aching fingers down his back, digging into his curve to anchor himself, as his tight dick and balls vigorously grinded against Volga's body as the dragon knight held his ass down.

Down and farther down still, they twisted and spiraled toward the ground creeping ever closer toward them as they thrusted into and onto one another, powering through the shifting, pendulous swing of gravity to perform a sensual dance of carnal rhythm and reflexes. Were he not worried about being dropped, Link would have liked to climb up, loop his arms around his neck, and kiss the dragon knight. He missed the freedom of running his hands and lips wherever he so pleased across Volga. It was a rather large drawback to the exhilaration of having sex as they fell through the sky. Perhaps, with practice and study, they could fine-tune their timing and learn exactly what they could do for one another in their time allotted.

While he wouldn't admit to having cold feet like Volga had mildly jeered at him, he had possessed some reasonable concerns to having sex in the sky, concerns he released into the air as he came moments after Volga. Clinging and pressed against the dragon knight as raw pleasure jolted through and poured from every pore of his body, the worry that they might be feet away from pounding straight on into the ground was far from the forefront of his mind. As Volga had explained, the goal for every mating pair was to separate at the very last moment possible and, knowing the proud, boastful dragon knight, Volga would no doubt wait and try to push beyond all risk. His damn pride could very well kill them both.

After he took his first breath and filled his spent lungs, Link smiled to himself. If this was their last living moment, the last feeling he ever experienced, so be it.

Volga suddenly opened his wings and righted himself mid-fall, hot embers scattering about and quickly cooling into dull ash, as a projected barrier ring of fire burst forth from his landing and scorched the ground and grass around them. Though he had landed on his feet, he crouched and swiftly dropped down to one knee all the while holding Link, supporting him with one arm braced across his back, gripping his shoulder, and his other pressed against the small of his back.

His wings and burst of fire magic had broken most of their fall. Volga laid him down gently on the ground but even then he seemed reluctantly to let him go, his hands sliding a bit too slow out from his back, his eyes lingering on the quick but steady rise and fall of his sex-flushed chest. After falling through the air, he felt keenly aware of the firmness of the ground, strong and steady like Volga's grip.

Link turned his head to the left and opened his clenched hands. Sliding his hand up his forearm, the dragon knight took his hand and loosely locked their fingers together. Bit of a pleased smirk on his face, Volga leaned down and kissed Link above the brow.

While it wasn't exactly cold feet that had made him doubt bonding to Volga in the sky, Link felt ridiculous for worrying that the dragon knight would put him in harm's way. Volga would wreck heaven and earth to keep him safe. Something as trivial as losing his grip at the wrong time shouldn't have even been a concern for Link. Volga had chosen Link and he would never let him go.


	4. Chapter 4

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

-o-

Day Four: Camaraderie

-o-

Volga was not one for camaraderie. He refused to participate in any unit-bonding exercises, would not celebrate with the troops after a hard-fought victory, and generally avoided the base camp at all possible, sulking about only to eat or if Link chose or was ordered to remain on base. Pretty much the only time anyone but Link ever saw Volga was on the battlefield, otherwise he perched himself on the highest point or in the most inhospitable place imaginable where only Link would seek to find him—not that their allies could not find him, they saw little point to bother. The number of orders not given by Link he had obeyed without quarrel could be counted on one hand.

Despite knowing how much he disliked, even outright despised the Hyrulean forces and that their allies and troops rarely were happy to have him around either, Link still tried to involve Volga in their revelry. He would beg and plea, flatter and coax the dragon knight. He would nuzzle and coo for him and sometimes the dragon knight would groan and snarl and agree to go with him. Rarely would he stay long, however. Something would happen, like an insult tossed his way, or nothing would happen and he would grow bored and leave.

Volga wasn't seeing how taking shelter in a traditional hot spring resort would be an enjoyable experience for all. He grumbled and groused as he stood, arms crossed over his chest, outside of the resort's main building and scoured the skyline for the nearest highest peak.

After the staff had escorted him and the rest of his troops to where they would be staying, Link made his way back to the entrance where Volga was still standing and growling low at himself. If he didn't know otherwise, Link would have assumed that faint deep rumble of discontent was just the sound of Volga breathing.

"This is pointless. We should leave the injured and advance onwards," Volga said, his face scrunched up in displeasure. "We have no time for such unnecessary rest."

Link replied that while only a small few of their forces were physically harmed, the troops overall were hurting in other ways. Rest and attention would do wonders to strengthen them for the coming clash. The harsh sigh Volga made gave his opinion about the Hylian soldiers' skill on the field and the necessity of their battle-preparedness.

"You wish for me to sit in a pool of water surrounded by your men unclothed for the purpose of what? Camaraderie?" Volga said after Link invited him to join him and a few of their fellow soldiers to soak in a spring together.

Under his sharpened glare, Link leaned back and tried to placate him with a smile. He then tapped his fist on the side of his head.

"What is it that you forgot?" Volga asked in a rather accusing tone. "Finish your thought, boy."

Link signed that he just remembered that the dragon knight did not like water. He apologized for asking and said that he should have known better that the hot spring would harm him.

"I am no hatchling that cannot bear the touch of water and it is not the water I despise," Volga said as he uncrossed his arms and started to stamp off in a huff. "Tend to your men. I will be elsewhere."

Seeing the first sparks and embers of his summoned fire calling his birthright, Link shouted at him before Volga's transformation into a dragon even had a chance to start. The dragon knight stopped, turned partially back, and growled as if he had asked what the hell he wanted. He was figuring that Link was going to plea and beg him to stay and join him with the others. Except that wasn't what Link wanted to ask him at all.

"You and I in a hot spring?" Volga said, eyebrow raised in a questioning, skeptical slant, and then asked in a much harsher tone, "It will be just the two of us, will it?"

Touching his chest and then laying his hand on Volga's, Link nodded yes. While it was obvious that the dragon knight thought that Link was tricking him, there was no trick involved. It was getting harder and harder to coax Volga into socializing with the others and honestly at times Link felt guilty for dragging him into places he knew the dragon knight did not wish to be and where people did not want him around. He could not build camaraderie between Volga and their allies and soldiers for them. Volga needed to accomplish that himself and if Volga's sense of camaraderie extended only to Link, fine, but it was no longer Link's place to force him to.

Volga still stared at him rather doubtfully and frowned as a smiling, chipper Link led him deep into the woods, far from any worn footpath to any of the several mapped hot spring locations throughout the resort, to what looked like a large burrow hole at the base of some mossy rocks on some hillside far into the forest where the sight of animals outnumbered people.

Though he had asked where they were going and how far, Link refused to answer him and Volga finally stopped grumbling to himself as Link lit the lantern he had brought with him, crouched down, and carefully climbed down into the earth. He called for Volga to follow him soon after and he less carefully crawled in and then leapt down as soon as he made it past the sloped entrance. The thump of his landing combined with the lantern's light startled the swarm of sleeping keese and sent the screeching bats fleeing past them and out of the cave.

Volga was silent as he followed Link through the cave, squeezing in between tight gaps and wedging themselves through narrow corridors arriving eventually at a massive chamber within the cavern where at the far end was a giant raised crater filled with steaming spring water. The room was lit by a wall of thick, ancient candles, yellowed and browned with time, that easily could have been burning undisturbed for a hundred years.

"So this secret spring of yours is in a deep, damp, dark, impossible to locate and even harder to reach, keese-infested, god-forsaken cavern miles underground that not a soul has known about or likely visited in decades…" Volga tilted his head down, closed his eyes, and smirked. "I love it."

Link grinned and gave a thumb's up. He had hoped but more than knew that the dragon knight would enjoy the cave spring. It was a dim, desolate, sweltering hole in the ground heated by intermittently spouting fumaroles blowing hot air and water vapor. It was one flowing river of lava from deserving a home-sweet-home sign.

They filled their wash buckets at an off to the side basin pool of water filled by a small bubbling waterfall and washed off before entering the spring. Volga had mentioned while washing Link's back that this was better in many ways than being surrounded by five to eight other men—Volga's reason being that he would be unable to let them leer at Link before he felt compelled to rip out their eyes. Link had shaken his head, not in disbelief but in mild reprimand, as he knew that his threat was not entirely a joke.

Still, Link actually agreed that this was quite nice. There was no need to be on edge, constantly vigilant, or listening for spark words and veiled insults that would set Volga off and demand Link to settle matters and calm him, if he could. No one in the spring was terrified and unable to relax for fear of the dragon knight's fire. Link had no reason to tread lightly in his words and Volga was not a scowling, seething, grumpy dragon sitting there lashing his figurative tail, though it would be a literal tail if he was in his dragon form. No, Volga did not have to behave and instead he could be the arrogant, loving jerk Link easily wanted to kiss then punch half the time.

"While I prefer saunas or heated rocks, this is not terrible," Volga said, sitting against the side of the hot spring, his arms resting on the edge. Link smirked and tossed him a sidelong glance as he paddled up to the side, laid his loosely crossed arms on the crater's rim, and rested his chin on top of his arms.

After Volga affectionately ruffled Link's hair, the two sat in silence and enjoyed one another's company amid the hot water and the misty, white steam that spewed forth about every eight minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

-o-

Day Five: Regret

-o-

The boy was a soldier, the Hero. Before he had even graduated to proper knighthood, he had raced to answer his kingdom's call to arms and seen his comrades and compatriots fall to the cursed ring spirit's magic and burn to Volga's flames. He had traveled with Her Majesty's forces across Hyrule and clashed with him in battle after battle, seeing more and more of his friends and allies' blood spilt, lives lost, bodies scarred and disfigured.

He had seen what Cia and then Ganondorf's forces had done to the land, to his people and yet the boy had never once turned to Volga and accused him of his crimes. Volga did not know how he kept the former commander of the witch's army and his lover-in-arms separate in his mind. Volga couldn't. He was both—the monster and his mate, the enemy commander and his comrade, the bastard and his boyfriend.

The boy had to be ignoring the truth, placing what he wanted to see and feel about Volga out in front while suppressing the truth and his past, their past. It wasn't right. It wasn't healthy. Try as he might to avoid it, it was a conversation they were going to have to have because at some point in time, at the right insult thrown at the boy for being his lover, Link won't have a response or reason to disagree with the angry mob and the weight of Volga's crimes will shatter what love he felt for him. His cute smiles as he tried to keep from laughing, the playful punches to his shoulder, his annoyed stares to the sky, the days and nights he rested against Volga's chest will be gone and over with.

Selfish at heart, Volga almost decided to let the inevitable come when may and enjoy the boy's happiness while he still possessed it. But he had come to love the boy more than he loved himself and, rather than bring him shame and pain, he decided to speak with the boy. Perhaps the boy would surprise him yet again. Perhaps he would be able to look beyond the brute…

Volga had wanted to bridge the subject on his terms, after this battle, but the Sheikah general's abandonment of him had forced his hand. Sending his squadron of troops to serve and advance under Fi's leadership, Link alone had come to the dragon knight's rescue. It was in their travels together to rejoin the Hyrulean forces that the boy and Volga made their way to Link's hometown.

The dragon knight followed some distance in tow as a shaken Link shuffled and trudged slowly through the empty streets and passed by charred, desolated homes and shops, their remaining standing walls stained and streaked gray from rain trickling through ash. Guay gathered and squawked in the few trees not reduced to charcoal. They watched and waited in hopes of fresh meat, having picked the surrounding bones clean until their bounty spoiled beyond what even a scavenger bird could stomach, the residual meat dried and washed out by sun and weather.

The boy suddenly stopped and Volga stumbled back a step. He watched and waited for a sign, a word, an accusation. None seemed to be coming forthwith and Volga could not see Link's face to read his emotions. He had a feeling it would not matter if he could. This wasn't the place, this wasn't the time, but nowhere else was the truth so flagrantly out on display. Volga knew well that the quickest way to cut to the bone would be to start at an open wound.

"Boy, you know that these embers have long since grown cold, the scorched ruins of these homes have not been lived in for nearly a year, the people reduced to bone…" Volga spoke low, his eyes never leaving the boy. The slightest twitch could give away his thoughts but the boy was still. Volga supposed that spoke just as much to his emotional state than if he drooped his head and his shoulders started shaking.

"This wasn't the petty spite of the dark king. This was done long before he arose once more, when the dark witch was still a threat and held me and the ring in sway," he said. "You know who did this."

He heard the boy breathe out harshly and could see the quickened rise and fall of his chest.

"Your men, they look to you in wonder and hope to end the nightmare while spitting on your name. Because you lay with the dragon that killed their brothers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They resent you every time you kiss me because they can no longer do the same to their lovers back home. The hands they have to hold are cold and you will not slay their murderer."

"You know I am not wrong. The Sheikah general's distrust and resentment of me has not been a secret to you. We are here because she wants me to die. Her soldiers have begged her as their commander and she will align with her soldiers and oblige their demand for justice. She knew where you were from and what happened here. She wanted you to see what happened, what I did, so you would be outraged enough to kill me."

Back and forth, the boy shook his head no.

"Listen to me, boy. I did not know that this or any of the other villages were, in fact, your home, but the truth stands. I burned your village, struck down your kin. The people you knew, cared for, loved swirl around you as motes of ash. Your past is gone and so is your future because you bound yourself to the bastard that took everything away from you."

His breath staggered, his cry hitched, his shoulders trembling, the boy wept.

Unable to look at the hurting boy without being compelled to hold him and knowing what an ill-timed spit in the face it would be for him to do so, Volga canted his eyes to the ground. "What will you do?"

Link did not respond.

"Boy, what will you do?" he asked again, more firmly.

And still the boy held his back to him and did not reply.

Inexplicable anger filled his voice. "I need to know, boy. Answer me."

Fuming, Volga took a step to the side, realized that he did not want to pace, and took a step to the other side without knowing how to keep himself from pacing. He knew not what to do with himself or why he was angry, bringing his hands up to his head, feeling ready to claw his hair out in anguish, before he stopped, curled his shaking hands away, and dropped his fists to his sides.

He had no reason to be angry with the boy—by all means, the opposite was true. The boy had every right to rage and anguish at him and yet he wasn't. If it were him facing his murderer, he would have immediately lunged at the bastard to avenge the boy and his dragonkin.

Catching himself listing the boy first when he knew he no longer held his love, Volga peered up at the sky, brilliantly fair and insanely dissonant to their mood, and smiled feebly, his forced front of emotion twisting into a snarl as he dropped to his knees.

His voice was strained and cracked, his throat aching worse than if he had singed his throat raw with his own fire breath. "My life is yours to do with as you wish," he said. "I forfeit it to you so you may decide my penitence. Set me to a task and I will do it, and upon your death when I can serve you no longer, I will plunge myself into Lake Hylia. Tell me to leave and you will never see me again. Draw your sword and I will bow my head. I will accept your choice, whatever it may be. Please…Link."

Tears like nothing he had shed before ran down his cheeks. Though the boy might think so, Volga was not asking for forgiveness, already knowing he did not deserve it. He merely wished to give the boy the retribution he deserved and then that would be all between them, whether their mate bond's true severance occurred immediately or decades from now. He doubted the boy would be able to stand to look at him to hold him in servitude so he readied himself to feel his last wisp of flame.

Unable to bear his silence and inaction no longer, Volga at long last rose and rushed toward him. Reaching out his clawed hand to make the boy face him, Link twisted his shoulder out from the dragon knight's grasp even before he touched him and raced off into the blackened forest. Volga stood, his arm outstretched, and watched him grow smaller and fade until the mist in his eyes dried up. Even after, he remained standing, having simply brought his arm down, and watched the darkening horizon.

Volga had always been full of pride. Despite being brainwashed into serving the witch's whim, he had never looked back upon his actions under her enslavement in shame. He had done nothing he would not have done under his own will, if he had cared to mettle in the humans' affairs. But, for once, Volga looked back at his crimes in shame. Volga felt regret.


	6. Chapter 6

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

Notes: This entry is a direct continuation to the Day 5 prompt, "Regret".

-o-

Day Six: Strength

-o-

Volga lived by his strength. He had nothing more to live by or for. Having lost the boy's love and respect, the dragon knight threw himself into battle after battle with Ganondorf's forces. While he was no longer aligned with the Hyrulean forces and fought purely by and for himself, he did see to it that when they occupied the battlefield together that he personally caused them no more casualties.

While they were no doubt pleased to have him gone, the Hyrulean forces did indeed wonder greatly as to what had happened between Volga and Link and where the boy was. After nearly every shared battle, the royal whelp and her allies would stop or ensnare him if he refused to stay and demanded to know where Link was. Each time, Volga said that he did not know where he had gone, though he surmised that he was alive. He also demanded them to never ask him again but they refused to obey. Link had vanished and the Hyrulean forces believed it was their every right to know what happened.

Volga almost wished that he did know where the boy had gone. Not that he would tell his allies where he was. He just wanted to know for himself that the boy was well and not in any harm's way. He tried believing his words more as he told the white witch and the bug princess yet again that he was sure that the boy was fine. The boy wasn't weak and no creature had ever bested him on the battlefield yet so he was bound to be well in body. In mind or heart, however…Volga dashed that thought away. Even if he was in mortal danger, the boy would not want the dragon knight to come to his aid.

Burning and blazing across enemy territory, Volga barely felt a twinge as another arrow pierced his dragon hide. This made for fifteen arrows poking out from in between his scales, joining the other seven from yesterday and the nine from the day before that. Volga hadn't cared to take the time to remove the arrowheads yet and he doubted he would take the time to remove them later on. He cared nothing about a few scratches, open cuts, or even arrows. He wanted to fight. Everything and anything that would bring the boy harm had to die.

Dive-bombing into a legion of Darknut soldiers, after his initial explosive burst of fire magic, Volga lashed his tail and knocked down five Shield Moblins as they foolishly tried to surround him. Arcing his fire breath, he cleared a path to Zant, the usurper king crowing and waving his three claw-like scimitars at him as he called Volga a traitorous wyrm.

Zant and his phantoms should have been no problem. The stalchildren even less so but after killing thousands upon thousands of moblins, bublins, gibdo, and poes, Volga's fire began to sputter, his wounds ached and bled, and he longed to rest. Forced back into his human form to conserve his flame, Volga sliced the spinning Zant head in two as it barraged the field with small reddish-purple orbs of energy.

The head was only a diversion, he realized, as he turned and saw a massive green energy ball barreling toward him. Leaping out of the way, its explosion sent him flying into Zant's claws, his strike sending him ricocheting into a phantom. Bouncing from one phantom to the other and then back at Zant, the Twilight King in name only sprang into the air, bent far back, and then slammed Volga down toward the ground. Before he reached the field, Zant grew and grew until he was far larger than King Dodongo or any boss monster and stomped the dragon knight into the dirt.

Raising an oversized, flowing sleeve to his tiny mouth, Zant laughed haughtily. "My footprint is too honorable a grave for you, Volga, but I will be a gracious king and permit you to lie there."

His back and ribs aching and crackling, dirt and pebbles sliding off his shoulders, Volga slowly rose to his hands and knees. He stood kneeled with a hand bracing his knee and caught his breath.

"You are no king," Volga said, wincing and wheezing from pain," and I will not fall to any figurehead who make-believes he has power. You are not worthy to lead and you are not worthy to fight me."

Zant fumed and stomped and worked himself into a frenzy but before he could blindly strike the dragon knight in a tantrum-like rage, Ghirahim appeared in the sky and floated down to his comrade's side.

"Might you be talking about yourself, Volga?" Ghirahim said as he smirked in presumed victory. "You can't even stand on your own. Why don't you get the boy to help you?"

Volga bared his teeth and growled.

"Ooh…a little salty for your wound?" the demonic sword spirit sneered. "I haven't see his corpse strung up anywhere, quite a pity, so I surmise he's still alive but he's not with you anymore, is he?"

His flame reservoir opening, Volga poured every ounce of energy he had left into feeding his fire. To hell with the pain, Volga rose to standing.

"Well, if he likes a bad boy…" Ghirahim tipped his head down while peering up and said huskily, "I can fill the part. For a little while, until I string him up myself."

With a battle roar, Volga glowed red and charged toward Zant and Ghirahim. With a snap of his fingers, Ghirahim vanished alongside Zant, leaving a glitching phantom in his place. Ghirahim with his dark sword in hand appeared behind Volga a moment later. His slash was too quick to stop or block, followed up by Zant kneeing Volga in the stomach. Ghirahim summoned a platform floor of diamonds underneath Volga, raised him and the floor made up of his magic high up, and dropped him as Zant shot orbs of energy at him from atop a summoned stone pillar before toppling the pillar down onto him.

Buried beneath the broken pillar, Volga heard them cackle and crow. The no longer glowing dragon knight groaned as he struggled to stand but that was not his more pressing concern. As he tried to boost his flame, he found his inner fire small and smoldering. He gave an agonized wheeze and coughed up smoke. Still Volga refused to die. He was a dragon knight unchallenged by all but the boy. If he were to fall, it would be by Link's blade only, not by the minions of a false god destined to die by the boy's sword. He forced himself, blood and all, to rise once more.

With a burst of corrupted Twili magic, Zant summoned swarms of stalchildren. The skeleton soldiers surrounded him, held down his arms and legs, and leapt onto his back. A weary, bleeding Volga thrashed as he tore stalchild after stalchild away from his legs and back, only for another stalchild to take its place. More and more skeletons piled onto him and pinned his summoned wings down. Zant and Ghirahim watched in wicked amusement as their forces overpowered the dragon knight.

"How dull… We deserved a better challenge," Ghirahim said in a bored voice, one hand on his cheek, as he snapped his fingers once more and summoned a ring of daggers around Volga's fallen body.

Volga saw the summoned daggers spin in place around him just for a second before his vision blurred. He swore he saw the boy standing atop the sand dune behind Zant and Ghirahim before everything went black.

-o-

Volga awoke sixteen days later in the Hyrulean forces' hospital tent. Having escaped the Gerudo Desert, they had taken refuge in the green hills nearby Hyrule Field. The dragon knight had been in and out of consciousness throughout his recovery and transport until now. He had spurts of memories during that time—most of them consisting of healers laying hands and blessings upon his body. He vaguely recalled the royal whelp and the sword spirit boosting her goddess-given powers standing over him, as the little insect girl's golden butterflies fluttered above his body, the three all muttering prayers of healing.

He remembered that it was Darunia and his Goron troops that had rescued him from Ghirahim's certain execution and carried him, half-dead, back to the allied base for treatment. He also recalled that there had been no sign or sight of Link.

Staring at the lit lantern hanging from the support beams, Volga lay in a cot at the far end of the otherwise empty tent. He lay feeling the spark and heat of the strong, steady, crackling fire in his flame reservoir. The tent flap rustled and Volga thought little of it, assuming it would be a healer standing there.

Link stood just beyond the tent flap. He was beaten, dirty, and frayed down, his right hand bracing his bloodied side. His blue eyes were dull as he shuffled listlessly toward the dragon knight's cot.

"…You're back," Volga said with an unusual uplift in his voice, as he tried to rise and ignore the pain and opening stitches and then paused as he saw the Master Sword in the boy's hand. "I see you have decided. It is not a glorious death in battle but it is the death I deserve. Go on."

As the dragon knight laid back down on his back and prepared to die, Link dropped his sword, fell to his knees at his bedside, and kissed Volga. The taste of blood, fresh and dried, mingled on their tongues. Link's bottom lip was swollen but he didn't seem to mind the sting. Volga was confused but cared not why and simply relished in the warm press of Link's lips he had so missed.

"How can you kiss me?" he asked afterwards.

Laying Volga's hand out palm forward, Link raised his hand up, snaked his fingers down, landed his fingertips on the dragon knight's palm, and interlaced their fingers. After receiving medical attention, the weary boy left his cot and laid beside Volga.

As he rested his head on the dragon knight's upper chest and shoulder, Volga lay in awe of the boy. Volga knew strength. He lived by it. He had always believed that humans were weak, all but the boy, of course. But Link possessed depths of strength Volga knew nothing about.


	7. Chapter 7

Volink Week Prompts

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule Warriors or the prompts utilized for this week.

-o-

Day Seven: Free-For-All

-o-

Surrounded by enemy monsters as far as his eyes could see and as many as the canyon could hold, Link with his hand at the ready to draw his sword edged his way backwards toward the dragon knight. Gripping his spear, Volga sized up their many, many foes as he slowly stepped back until his shoulder blades pressed against Link's.

The dragon knight smirked. "It seems as though we have been spotted…" he said, his voice dripping with faux concern, as he gave his spear a quick twirl, a habit he had picked up from Link. "What ever shall we do, boy?"

Link peered over his shoulder and grinned back at Volga. He ran his thumb across his throat in a horizontal slice motion and chuckled low in his throat.

"We may die, that may be true," Volga said, sharing in his dark amusement with his own deep laugh,"…but before we do, let us teach these pathetic worms how foolish it is to corner two dragons."

Volga cut through his half of their immediate surrounding forces with giant slash of his transformed dragon arm as Link sliced his way into the fray and performed a great spin. If the enemy knew anything about Link and Volga, this was probably the best time for the monsters positioned in the rear or on the canyon walls to flee but they were determined to fight for their outpost base. They still didn't run even after Link switched to his spinner and began knocking each and every foe into the canyon and into Volga's spear or dragon jaws.

Despite their love of battle, the two were still figuring out how to mesh their fighting styles together. They were far more likely to turn each clash into a kill competition between one another than to assist one another in attacks but they were still learning different ways with different weapons how to layer on their abilities, sometimes spontaneously out in the field.

Having snatched a pesky pair of stalmasters straight off the battlefield, Volga in his dragon form carried the elite skeleton soldiers in his talons and tossed them into Link's batting range as he raised a stone pillar up like a bat with his golden gauntlets and swung it, sending their shattered bone fragments into the nearest neighboring province. Link soon returned the favor a thousand kills later by flip-tossing a moblin into Volga's spear thrust. The dragon knight paused from fighting and shot Link a pleased smirk in thanks and adoration before grabbing and crushing the skull of a bulblin raid captain that had dared to approach him from behind.

When there were no more than six hundred or so monsters left, Link pulled out his magic rod and whistled to Volga. The nearby dragon knight turned, saw the rod, and immediately understood the plan. After Volga helped round up the remaining three hundred foes into a tighter corral, Link raced toward the dragon knight. Making a foothold with his hands, Volga boosted Link into the air.

Awakening the magic rod as he spiraled and rocketed into the sky, Link positioned the head of the rod forward and smothered their remaining foes in fire, utilizing the flamethrower's energy and propulsion to let him hover in the air and slow his descent. At the same time, on the ground, Volga reared back, took a deep cinder-rich breath, then leaned forward, and scoured the field in fire.

Link landed on his feet, flourished the magic rod with a twirl before putting the rod away and heard the stomp of the dragon knight's feet as he walked through crackling bones and flames. Smiling at the dragon knight for a victory well assured, Link started to turn toward him when a scowling Volga grabbed him by the tunic and scarf, wrenched him off his feet, and kissed him roughly. The air audibly cracked as their mouths separated and the two warriors grinned at one another before Volga set Link down.

With not an enemy left alive and the free for all over and done with, Link motioned to Volga that it was time they left. Scooping Link up, Volga sat a surprised but nonetheless smiling Link on his shoulder and bicep and let him perch on his flexed arm all the way back to the allied camp.


End file.
